2021 World Food Day Celebrated Virtually 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization today virtually celebrated World Food Day at the Yo Creek Agriculture Station in the Orange Walk District.

This year’s World Food Day was celebrated under the theme ‘Our Actions are our future ─ better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life.’ The theme raises awareness of the need for supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems.

In his remarks, Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture, stated that the mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise of Belize is to continue the endeavor to improve security, quality, and affordability of food in a sustainable manner that will take into consideration the conservation of the environment. To do so there is need for the continuous strengthening of collaboration with partners in development to be able to reach out to rural and urban areas, prioritizing the most vulnerable.

Present at the event were Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño and H.E. Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children. In her remarks, Mrs. Briceño challenged all to join in the fight against malnutrition and to take bolder steps in that direction. Prime Minister Briceño also spoke about the problems of malnutrition and food insecurity, mentioning some of the steps taken by government to deal with these problems, such as the Parliamentary Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition, and the focus of several ministries to ensure problems with access to proper nutrition are eradicated. Prime Minister Briceño said that with proper harnessing of resources, Belize should be able to eliminate food distribution problems that affect school-aged children.

One of the other highlights of the event was the recognition of Minister Mai as a Food Hero, for the steps he has taken to ensure food security and scarcity and malnutrition are mitigated.

The day ended with a tour of different booths featuring agricultural displays and products from different sectors in agriculture.